1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a high speed and compact apparatus for advancing a wire in continual regular increments. In particular, the invention relates to a wire advancement device and method which consistently incrementally advances one or more lengths of wire a predetermined distance for subsequent cutting and placement into an electrical terminal or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In the production of electrical connectors, it is necessary to place short lengths of wire into metal sleeves for use as terminal pins in the male portion of a connector. Together, the terminal pin and metal sleeve form a conductive male terminal. One or more of these male terminals may then be connected to a conductive wire and placed into a insulating housing for forming a male half of a connector. The terminal pins extend outward, and when the male half of the connector housing is assembled to a female connector housing half, the terminal pins are inserted into conductive socket-type terminals in the female half of the connector for forming an electrical connection.
During assembly of the conductive male terminals, the short lengths of wire are placed into the metal sleeves and then crimped, spot-welded, soldered, or otherwise secured in place within the sleeve. The sleeves may be formed by stamping operations from a strip of sheet metal in a stamping press, such as a reciprocating press with progressive dies. A large number of sleeves may be formed on a single strip of sheet metal, and the sleeves remain attached to the strip pending insertion of the wire pins. In an alternative use of the invention, the short lengths of wire can be fed into a bandoleer--a strip of material used to temporarily hold products such as pins, resistors, and the like. The bandoleer can then be fed into an assembly machine or die which automatically inserts the pins into the above-mentioned sleeves or other products.
The present invention is particularly directed to an apparatus for consistently feeding lengths of wire into a stamping operation, although it will be apparent that the present invention is not limited to such a use, and may be used for advancing wire or other elongated stock items for any number of alternative purposes. In the preferred use, the free end of the wire is fed into a terminal sleeve on a metal strip, and then clipped so that the portion of wire extending from the sleeve forms a terminal pin. Following insertion of the pin, the sleeve is then further crimped or otherwise tightened about the wire pin, and optionally spot-welded or soldered to hold the pin in position in the sleeve. The strip is then advanced, and the free end of the wire is inserted into the next sleeve in the strip, clipped, crimped, and so forth.
In the past, a number of devices have been implemented for feeding incremental lengths of stock material. While these devices worked well for their intended purposes, there remains a need for a more efficient, compact, and reliable device. The present invention provides such a device and method for advancing elongated stock material, such as a wire.